By "quick", I mean it takes a mere two hours, a fraction of the time needed for classic puff. A smidgen of baking powder softens the texture and helps gently aerate the buttery flakes as they bake. Of course, if you wanted to be even quicker, there's all-butter ready-made pastry.

Enough for 6-8 tarts

250g plain flour

50g wholemeal, or just 50g more plain flour

¼ tsp baking powder (optional)

½ tsp salt

1 tbsp olive oil

175g cold unsalted butter, cut into 1 cm cubes

175ml half milk and water

Extra flour for rolling

Toss both flours, baking powder and salt in a bowl, and rub through the oil until it disappears. Toss butter cubes through the flour, then blend with the milk/water to a soft lumpy dough. Cover and leave somewhere cool for 10-20 minutes. Scrape out the dough, lightly dust its top (and the work surface) with flour, roll it out to about 20cm by 40cm. Fold it in by one third from the bottom, then again by one third from the top. Chill it in the fridge again, then repeat the roll-and-fold twice more at 30 minute intervals.

To use: Preheat the oven to 220C/425F/gas mark 7. Roll the pastry about ½ cm thick, and cut into circles, squares or rectangles. Add the topping, leaving a 1cm border at the edge. Place on a foil-lined tray, making sure there's plenty of space; you want all the tarts to lie on spacious, first-class aircraft cabin flat beds rather than rammed shoulder-up in economy. Bake for 20-35 min (according to size), reducing the heat to 180C/350F/gas mark 4 after 20 minutes to finish without burning.

Merguez and tomato

This is a fancy version of bangers andketchup, albeit a little spicier.

6 thin Merguez or any other thin spicy sausage

6-7 ripe plum tomatoes

2 tbsp (about 30ml) light olive oil

3 cloves garlic, peeled and thinly sliced

2 tsp cumin seeds

½ tsp cayenne

1 tbsp tomato paste

Salt and pepper

Fry the sausages in a flat pan until barely cooked. Cool, halve lengthways, and chop into 3-4cm strips. Halve tomatoes, spoon out the seeds and roughly chop into 1 cm chunks. Heat the oil in a small pan, add garlic, cumin and cayenne and fry until golden. Then tip in the tomato chunks and paste and simmer for 5-10 minutes until reduced and thick. Spoon a little of the tomato on the pastry and top with the sausage before baking.

Tapenade and roasted pepper

Spread the tapenade thinly to help keep the flavour subtle.

3 large red peppers

250g black olives, pitted

1 clove garlic, crushed

Zest ½ lemon

1 tbsp capers, washed free of salt (or use the ones in brine)

1 or 2 anchovies, chopped

30ml olive oil

Roast the peppers in a hot oven until charred, then peel off the skin; halve, remove the seeds (saving the juice), and cut into strips. Place the remaining ingredients in a food processor and purée roughly, thinning slightly with the pepper juices. Spread a ½ cm layer of tapenade on the pastry and then criss-cross with the pepper strips.

Chard, chevre and walnut

If you want a fancier look, soak walnuts in boiling water for 10 minutes, slice thinly.

1 large onion, peeled and finely sliced

50g unsalted butter

5 large stalks chard, washed

150g walnuts, roughly chopped

Salt and pepper

300g chevre or other soft goats' cheese

Fry the onion with butter until soft, turn up the heat, add the chopped chard and walnuts and cook until the chard wilts. Remove from the heat, tip into a colander and leave to drain. Place the chard mixture on the pastry, crumble cheese over generously before baking.

Butternut squash, bacon and sage

You can substitute aubergine or sweet potato for the pumpkin.

1 small (less than a kg) butternut pumpkin (squash)

1-2 tbsp sunflower oil

2-3 small stalks fresh sage, stripped and roughly chopped

½ tsp chilli flakes

Salt and pepper

250g dry-cure streaky bacon

Sour cream to serve

Preheat oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 4. Bake the pumpkin whole in its skin for around 45 minutes or until tender, then peel, deseed and cut into 1cm chunks. Add the sage, chilli and a little salt and pepper, and stir gently. Spoon on to the pastry and bake. Meanwhile, chop the bacon into 1cm squares and fry in the oil until crisp. Once the tarts are baked, drizzle with sour cream and sprinkle with the crisp bacon.

Mozzarella, broccoli and Parma ham

Be a bit mean with the mozzarella, as it will melt and spread out during baking

2-3 balls good mozzarella, drained

1 small head broccoli, boiled until tender, then drained and cut into small florets

50g pesto

6 slices Parma ham

2-3 sprigs fresh basil

Cut the mozzarella into 1cm chunks and drain on kitchen towel for 30 minutes (or overnight in the fridge, preferably). Toss the mozzarella with broccoli and pesto, then spoon onto pastry and bake for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven, lay a slice of Parma ham over each and bake a further 5-10 minutes. To serve, tear the fresh basil and sprinkle on the top.